The use of electrically powered outboard boat motors for trolling for fish is known. See Blanchard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,470, issued Jan. 19, 1982; Osborne, U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,947, issued 08/10/71; Creager, U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,628, issued 01/21/75; and Harris, U.S. Pat. No. 3,602,181, issued 08/31/71. Such motors have a submersible electric motor that is drivingly connected to an impeller. In most cases such motors are mounted at the lower end of a vertically extending and laterally non-yielding structure that can be permanently damaged if the motor encounters a nonyielding underwater structure during use. Such motors may be mounted at various locations on the hull of the boat and, if mounted at the forward end or bow of the boat, are capable of use in thrusting the bow laterally as an auxiliary steering aid during docking of such boats under difficult wind and/or current condi- tions.
The need exists for a mounting device for such outboard motors and which protects the underwater motor assembly and the mounting device itself from damage when an underwater obstruction to the path of movement of the underwater motor assembly is encountered. Also needed is a practical and efficient device for mounting such underwater electric motor assemblies in the bow areas of boats which are equipped with a bow pulpit.